Russell Watson Email & Phone Number

Christchurch, Nz

Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand

Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

Advisory Board Member & Strategic Business Advisor to start-up providing solutions to pre-hospital emergency agencies

Christchurch, New Zealand

Working with organisations, mid-sized to just starting, to deliver business strategy, business structure & improvement projects, marketing understanding, Product, Go-To-Market strategy, and digitisation of associated business systems.This includes rolling up the sleeves to execute on the plans, whether it is implementing marketing in “traditional” industries or getting start-ups ready for investment & first sales.Leveraging years’ of experience working for product companies… Show more Working with organisations, mid-sized to just starting, to deliver business strategy, business structure & improvement projects, marketing understanding, Product, Go-To-Market strategy, and digitisation of associated business systems.This includes rolling up the sleeves to execute on the plans, whether it is implementing marketing in “traditional” industries or getting start-ups ready for investment & first sales.Leveraging years’ of experience working for product companies exporting around the globe – North America, Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia Recent activities include:- Advisory Board Member- Mentor to medical technology, medical distributor, medical clinic, and emergency medicine SaaS company founders- Facilitating Board & Senior Leadership Strategy Days- Governance & Partnership reviews- Developing investment packs for start-ups - quantification of markets & the opportunities, financial models and cap-sheets- Go-to-market strategy development for product, SaaS and service companies. - Productisation of medical services, provider contracting & implementation of supporting back-office systems to allow sale & billing.- Running digital campaigns to raise brand equity, create awareness and drive customer’s through the sales & marketing funnel.- Developing substantive content that addresses real customer buying questions & consistently grows customer traffic.- Business digitisation, procurement and improvement projects – ERP, Accounting (Xero), E-Commerce, CRM & Marketing Automation & Integration. - Sales and large tender response.- Conducting market & customer research to support the above.Some of the businesses I have worked with recently include:- Medical start-ups: Triage-Plus, Urigo, Inovology- Medical clinics: Motus Health, Occupational Health Canterbury, Australis Medical & Australis Specialist Pain Clinic- Medical distributors: Obex Medical, Mito Health- Construction industry companies: United Steel Show less

Christchurch, New Zealand

Providing mentoring in business strategy and marketing to New Zealand Business Owners

Christchurch

Led global marketing functionAchievements:- Provided leadership and coordination throughout the business- Developed measurable customer funnel flow for the first time- Clarified Brand Hierarchy - update provided a consistent brand experience- Led business understanding of market structure, attractiveness of sub-segments, focus sub-segments, go-to market strategies and target customers- Developed an evidence-based understanding of market adoption stage- Led… Show more Led global marketing functionAchievements:- Provided leadership and coordination throughout the business- Developed measurable customer funnel flow for the first time- Clarified Brand Hierarchy - update provided a consistent brand experience- Led business understanding of market structure, attractiveness of sub-segments, focus sub-segments, go-to market strategies and target customers- Developed an evidence-based understanding of market adoption stage- Led closing of key content gaps, increased level of content marketing and established a regular communication cadence. - Led successful introduction of an e-marketing Marketing Automation capability integrated with CRM, following definition of marketing funnel, automation flow, and preparation of content. Resulted in customer funnel flow and high-rates of engagement- Significant increase in website traffic following update and introduction of Marketing Automation - Led and delivered a step change in collateral and sales enablement maturity- Development of regular reporting capability around the performance of various marketing channels & initiatives to guide future investment Show less

Christchurch

Achievements:- Introduced product portfolio backlog to manage development priorities- Introduced new product portfolio, based on Smart-Devices to fill gap in portfolio and markets- Commenced transition of product portfolio to SaaS business model- Enabled sales of new product in target markets - Led introduction of cross-functional teamwork in engineering team- Took on leadership of a significant project, which was in trouble, and got it back on track- Led the… Show more Achievements:- Introduced product portfolio backlog to manage development priorities- Introduced new product portfolio, based on Smart-Devices to fill gap in portfolio and markets- Commenced transition of product portfolio to SaaS business model- Enabled sales of new product in target markets - Led introduction of cross-functional teamwork in engineering team- Took on leadership of a significant project, which was in trouble, and got it back on track- Led the development of system integration plans to manage risk, prioritise deliverables & provide realistic delivery dates- Led introduction of a system engineering capability within organisation- Led introduction of cadence releases to deliver product with greater frequency - Reintroduction of structure to new product introduction business process - Creative thinking, combined with technical and market understanding, resulted in patent applications Show less

Responsibility for:- Leading the public safety market vertical and business strategy development- Leading the P25 communication system business strategy.- Leading the development and execution of Go To Market (GTM) strategies - Sales enablement- Defining and leading the development of new Public Safety Solutions, taking the solutions to market, and driving the resulting business- Opportunity identification in the area of public safety broadband (4G) and… Show more Responsibility for:- Leading the public safety market vertical and business strategy development- Leading the P25 communication system business strategy.- Leading the development and execution of Go To Market (GTM) strategies - Sales enablement- Defining and leading the development of new Public Safety Solutions, taking the solutions to market, and driving the resulting business- Opportunity identification in the area of public safety broadband (4G) and applicationsAchievements:- Defined and took a new public safety system, containing multiple products, to market. - Led a cross-functional project team to achieve development of the above system.- Led GTM strategy development and implementation in new areas of business, which included a smart-device based critical communications solution (UnifyVoice) and a solution to monitor the physiological status of Public Safety Professionals (BioLink)- Supply side partnership development for new business areas- Commenced transition of some products in portfolio to SaaS style business models- Led market segmentation and organisational alignment to target subsegment- Led customer research efforts in all Tait’s global public safety markets.- Developed and implemented 5 year strategy for P25 business Show less

Responsibility as one of a team of trustees who:- provide Governance and oversight of the Staff Superannuation Fund- regularly review the performance of fund investment managers

Responsibility for staff management of a team consisting of:-50 staff-Software engineers and technicians-Hardware support engineers and technicians-Mechanical support engineers -Requirements analysts.Responsibility for introducing a new requirements methodology, including:-leadership of implementation team-organisational change management-defining integration with systems engineering process.

Human Resources consultancy, in performance management, for large technology company.

-Member of the HumanWare NZ senior management team-Leadership and management of the Low-Vision Business Unit.-Responsibility for business unit revenues > NZD10m, R&D budget > NZD2m and operating budget > NZD1m.-Led the development and implementation of product strategy for the business unit.-Led and managed a team of marketing and engineering professionals -Led and successfully completed a major international customer research project to understand the Low-Vision… Show more -Member of the HumanWare NZ senior management team-Leadership and management of the Low-Vision Business Unit.-Responsibility for business unit revenues > NZD10m, R&D budget > NZD2m and operating budget > NZD1m.-Led the development and implementation of product strategy for the business unit.-Led and managed a team of marketing and engineering professionals -Led and successfully completed a major international customer research project to understand the Low-Vision market, and develop the resulting strategic plan-External Fund raising - raised in excess of $1m for product development Show less

Responsible for management of Low-Vision portfolio of products. This included:- Developing product strategies and portfolios for various time horizons- Defining new products, leading their development, and taking them to market- Developing new product business cases. - Determining inter-company & market pricing- Preparing marketing collateral- Global product, sales and channel supportKey successes included:- Led development of a new product family-… Show more Responsible for management of Low-Vision portfolio of products. This included:- Developing product strategies and portfolios for various time horizons- Defining new products, leading their development, and taking them to market- Developing new product business cases. - Determining inter-company & market pricing- Preparing marketing collateral- Global product, sales and channel supportKey successes included:- Led development of a new product family- Introduced innovative product to a mature industry and provided new value to those in the value chain. - Introduced innovative user interface using customer centered design approaches- Introduced iterative customer centered design approaches to create products better aligned to user needs. Show less

Wellington, New Zealand

Private consultancy to FRST, providing investment advice.- Member Manufacturing Advisory Group - Responsible for assessing applications and making recommendations to the FRST board on the NZ government’s investment in manufacturing research and development.

Responsibilities included- Management of a portfolio of internet software and hardware products- End to end product marketing including product strategy, product definition, collateral development, sales enablement, life-cycle management, and revenue optimisationSuccesses- Introduced a financial and market based product portfolio management approach- ADSL Router business plan, recognised as setting a new standard in the business

Responsibilities included:- Investment management in the Medical & Health, Information Technology, Communications and Manufacturing Sectors (>$15m pa). - Developing and implementing investment strategies for each of these portfolios- Private and public sector relationship management.Successes included:- Changing investment approach within organisation, to one that focused on the market, commercial opportunity and team

Business development, marketing and engineering consultancy services. Engineering, system & product development consultancy services provided to companies such as Fletcher Challenge Forests Ltd and T L Jones Ltd.Successes included:- Built a successful consulting business (Revenues >$400k pa)- Developed an award winning system for Fletcher Challenge Forests to measure product quality in a large scale processing plants and in the field- Secured new business, which led to… Show more Business development, marketing and engineering consultancy services. Engineering, system & product development consultancy services provided to companies such as Fletcher Challenge Forests Ltd and T L Jones Ltd.Successes included:- Built a successful consulting business (Revenues >$400k pa)- Developed an award winning system for Fletcher Challenge Forests to measure product quality in a large scale processing plants and in the field- Secured new business, which led to an innovative patented technology to sense elevator door obstructions. Cameras provided 3-D sensing of elevator passengers, similar to modern vehicle collision avoidance systems. Show less

Development of medical instrumentation and patented techniques to measure oxygen saturation of the brain during open heart surgery and labor.Instruments used during labor at University College Hospital and during open heart surgery at Great Ormond St Hospital.

General Manager Program

Master Mgt (Distinction), Management

Post Grad Dip Bus Admin, Management

Phd, Electrical & Electronic Engineering

PhD in image & biomedical signal processing

Be 1 Hons, Electrical & Electronic Engineering